1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coal briquettes, particularly to ignitor-briquettes made mainly of charcoal for the purpose of readily starting prime fuels such as coal, charcoal, fuel logs, etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fuel logs, coal, charcoal and other types of briquettes are widely employed for indoor fire place, outdoor cooking and camp fires.
In starting those types of fuel, the application thereto of a flammable liquid such as kerosene, gasoline, benzene and other petroleum products, or an electric starting element are commonly utilized. Each of these methods involves a certain amount of danger, fire hazard and or burn in the case of the petroleum products and electric shock in the case of the electric element, to the individual handling them. The starting fuels such as those indicated above also have the disadvantage of adversely affecting the original taste of the food being cooked, especially so in the case of barbecue cooking, and the electric element is expensive to maintain and operate.
Many attempts and methods have been tried in the past to develop an ignitor fuel of the type by which a kindling fire for prime fuels can be safely started by a simple lighting device such as a safety match or a cigarette lighter, and difficulties of one type or another have been encountered without much resultant success.
Some improvements have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,849,300 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,431,093. The former has two components, the starter mix and the combustion sustaining mix; the starter mix being a mixture of ammonium nitrate, carbon and of a burning rate accelerator such as potassium dichromate, and the combustion sustaining mix being a mixture of ammonium nitrate, carbon and of a binding agent, preferably paraffin wax, with or without overcoating thereon of paraffin wax. The latter is made by treating charcoal with a mixture of saturated higher alcohols and saturated higher carboxylic acids, with an overcoating thereon of nitrocellulose.
The imperative factor most desired in the types of ignitor fuel is that the ignition of the fuel be successful on the first attempt under any circumstances, regardless of environmental and weather conditions, and none of the prior ignitor coals was found to be completely satisfactory.
Ammonium nitrate should preferably be avoided for its emission of an extremely noxious gas, nitrous oxide (laughing gas), during the combustion thereof, not to mention its explosive nature. Upon being ignited, even with the addition of potassium dichromate, ammonium nitrate burns quickly with explosive sparklings leaving neither a fire seed nor ember sufficient to kindle itself, and is far from being an ignitor-fuel for the prime fuel. (See pages 69- 70 of the eighth edition of the Merck Index published by Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N. J., U.S.A. "Ammonium Nitrate . . . USE: . . . for making nitrous oxide (laughing gas);" see also page 744: "Nitrous Oxide . . . laughing gas; . . . Prepd. by thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate, . . . Asphyxiant . . . Dissociation begins above 300 degrees when the gas becomes a strong oxidizing agent . . . MED USE: Inhalation anesthetic and analgesic. Human Toxicity Narcotic in high concns. less irritating than other oxides of nitrogen)."
Also, charcoal treated with a mixture of saturated higher alcohols leaves the main body thereof unkindled after an explosive combustion of the overcoating of nitrocellulose.